There are a number of places to see Christmas Movies in Ann Arbor throughout the holiday season. What is your favorite Holiday Movie? I love Miracle on 34th Street. My husband’s favorite is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – he puts it on every year while wrapping presents. When she was younger, my daughter really enjoyed Home Alone. Maybe your favorite is Elf or A Christmas Story.
New Release Christmas Movies in Theaters
Most of the holiday themed new releases I saw were geared to the teen/adult audience.
Not quite like last year with Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
See Classic Christmas Movies in Ann Arbor on the Big Screen
While new movies are great, I’m all about seeing our traditional favorites. Both Michigan Theater & Emagine have screenings of classic holiday movies. These include both old and newer classics (like Elf).
Michigan Theater
Michigan Theater offers several Christmas movies throughout the season.. As is tradition, they will have the Sing Along White Christmas on Friday of Thanksgiving Weekend – but the movie is FREE this year (goodie bags are $5)! Surprisingly they don’t have It’s a Wonderful Life listed (as of October 24) – it typically plays right before Christmas. The 2025 Free Holiday Classics series includes A Christmas Story, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Home Alone, and The Polar Express.. Love Actually also plays a couple of times.
Events from our Sponsors
 JLC Book SaleOctober 22-25, 2025 |  Nightmare on Cross StWeekends in October |  Kindergarten Open House and PlaytimeSunday, November 16 |
Emagine & Cinemark
Emagine participates in the Flashback Cinema program which shows a classic movie on Sunday and Wednesday each week.
Last year, they had holiday themed movies in November and December. (As of October 24, they only list through November 5). Hopefully they will add some holiday movies this year as well.
Last year, Cinemark offered the Holiday Movie Clubhouse with discounted tickets to holiday movies from November 30-December 18. As of October 24, they still list last year’s program. Hopefully they will announce a 2025 program.
All 2025 Christmas Movies Near Ann Arbor
Through November 23
Thanksgiving Weekend (November 24-30)
| Date/Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 💙🆓🎟 | November 28, 2025 7:00pm | Sing Along White Christmas at Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor MI |
| 💙🆓🎟 | November 30, 2025 1:30pm | A Christmas Story - Holiday Classic Film Series at Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor MI |
December 1-7
| Date/Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 💙🆓🎟 | December 7, 2025 1:30pm | The Muppet Christmas Carol - Holiday Classic Film Series at Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor MI |
December 8-14
| Date/Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 💙🆓🎟 | December 14, 2025 1:30pm | Home Alone - Holiday Classic Film Series at Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor MI |
December 15-31
| Date/Time | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 💙🆓🎟 | December 21, 2025 1:30pm | The Polar Express- Holiday Classic Film Series at Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor MI |
Watch at Home
Our preferred way to watch Christmas movies and specials has always been at home.
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Streaming Holiday Movies – 2024 details
Disney+ is one of the leaders for Holiday Movies this year. They have the Happy Holidays Collection which gathers all of their holiday movies. They have classics like Miracle on 34th Street, the Home Alone series and the Santa Clause series. Their animated movies include The Nightmare Before Christmas, A Christmas Carol, and more. We are looking forward to The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on November 25.
Last year Netflix had White Christmas, but it moves to Amazon Prime this year. Netflix has lots of original Christmas programming some of which is aimed towards families. And for the romance lovers, they added several Hallmark movies this year as well as their own similar movies.
AppleTV+ has the Charlie Brown Christmas and Spirited.
Amazon Prime includes It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Scrooged, Christmas with the Kranks, and more.
Max has The Polar Express and Elf.
Your DVD Collection
We are a bit old school – we own several of our favorite Christmas movies on DVD or BluRay. And now that we have a teen, we are branching out to more mature films.
No season is complete without at least one watching of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It was traditionally the movie my husband and I watched while we wrapped our daughter’s presents. But now she loves it, so it was upgraded to a general wrapping movie.
A few years ago we introduced our teen to the debate of whether Die Hard is a Christmas Movie. I say yes – she and dad are more on the fence. My husband insists if Die Hard is a Christmas Movie, so is Lethal Weapon (it also is set at Christmas and has a chase through a Christmas tree lot), so we’ve watched that as well.
TV Airings
Since I am old enough to remember not just a time before DVRs, but before VCRs, the best way to watch a Christmas classic was on TV. Now with a DVR, it is even easier to watch your Christmas favorite from a TV broadcast. Get your DVR ready to record Christmas movies. Also be sure to check for On Demand Availability.
Last year, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer moved from CBS to NBC. It had aired on CBS for five decades!
Typically on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day, A Christmas Story airs for 24 hours on both TBS (starting at 8p) and TNT (starting at 9p)
Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas is always a great source for Christmas movies. AMC, TBS, and TNT are other good sources for Christmas movies. The Freeform 25 Days of Christmas schedule has not been announced by October 24. Last year, it was announced on November 1.
Christmas Guide
Arbor Annie’s Guide to an Amazing Ann Arbor Christmas
Our Guide to Christmas Events in Ann Arbor has all the fun local activities to celebrate the holidays. Find the best activities for Ann Arbor holiday celebrations to keep you in the holiday spirit. Note: We update the Christmas Ann Arbor Guide throughout the season as we find new events. Check back through the season to find […]
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